Iizasa Ienao (飯篠家直 Iizasa Ienao) (c. 1387 - 1488)^[1] was the founder of Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto-ryu which is an old style Japanese koryu martial art. His name is sometimes written as Iizasa Chōisai Ienao (飯篠長威斉家直 Iizasa Chouisai Ienao), and his Buddhist posthumous name is Taiganin-den-Taira-no-Ason-Iga-no-Kami-Raiodo-Hon-Daikoji.^[2] Events June 2 - John Holland, a maternal half-brother of Richard II of England, is created Earl of Huntingdon. ... // Events February 3 - Bartolomeu Dias of Portugal lands in Mossel Bay after rounding the Cape of Good Hope, at the tip of Africa becoming the first known European to travel this far south. ... Tenshin Shōden Katori Shintō-ryÅ« (天真正伝香取神道流) is the oldest extant martial art in Japan, an exemplar of koryÅ« bujutsu. ... Koryu (古流 koryÅ«) is a Japanese word that translates literally as old school or old tradition. It refers to schools of martial arts that predate the Meiji Restoration, a political event that precipitated Japans modernization. ...

He was a respected spearman and swordsman who served the Chiba family in what is today Chiba Prefecture. When his home town was destroyed he began wandering the land until he settled down near the Katori Shrine and founded the Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto-ryu circa 1447. A swordsman is one skilled in the use of swords. ... Chiba Prefecture ) is located in the Greater Tokyo Area of Honshu Island, Japan. ... Tenshin Shōden Katori Shintō-ryū (天真正伝香取神道流) is the oldest extant martial art in Japan, an exemplar of koryū bujutsu. ... Events March 6 - Nicholas V becomes Pope. ...

References

• Otake, Risuke (1977). The Deity and the Sword - Katori Shinto-ryu, Vol 1, Japan, Japan Publications Trading Co. ISBN 0-87040-378-8 (Original Japanese title for all three volumes in this series is Mukei Bunkazai Katori Shinto-ryu)
• Hall, David Avalon. Marishiten: Buddhism and the warrior Goddess, Ph.D. dissertation, Ann Arbor: University microfilms, p. 274-292 are about TSKSR
• Skoss, Diane (editor) (1999). Sword & Spirit, Classical Warrior Traditions of Japan, vol 2., p. 67-69
• Watatani, Kiyoshi (1967). (Zusetsu) Kobudōshi, Tokyo

Notes

1. ↑  The TSKSR itself gives 1387 as the birth year of its founder. See Deity and the Sword, Vol 1 p. 16-17. Watatani (1967) speculates 1417-1420 is more historically correct.
2. ↑  Deity and the Sword, Vol 1 p. 16-17.